Water –a precious lifeline for humans – is quickly becoming very scarce in India, and more so in Tamil Nadu. Perambalur district, where Payir is located, is a region that has been severely affected by the drought. Payir has been working on water conservation and water management programs for the past few years to overcome this drought. This is one such initiative.

Shanti hails from Pudhu Ammapalayam village and has been working with Payir for the past two years as a health worker. Inspired by Payir’s efforts in water management along with the Government for the entire Alathur Taluk, she decided to restore the defunct public well in her village. This well had not been in use for over 20 years, and water was scarce in the village.

Payir kick-started the initiative with Shanti, with an awareness session among the villagers. One of Payir Trust’s members, Vanitha, educated the villagers about the importance of desilting the well and how it would boost the groundwater table in the area and increase the storage capacity of the well. She urged the youngsters to actively participate in the desilting process, which was met with an enthusiastic response

Vanitha, Vasuki and Shanthi of Payir (Health unit) set the ball rolling. The first step of the project was to drain the water out from the well before desilting. Selvam, a youth from the village, helped in getting a motor for rent from Thuraiyur, a nearby village. The villagers chipped in by buying a rope, and using a bucket, scooped out the waste from the well. Plastic waste, old footwear and buckets, clothes, bottles and some household articles were all cleared from the well

This exercise turned out to be a learning experience for the villagers in working as a team and achieving success. Also, desilting was no longer seen as a man’s job, with women working as hard as the men. The Payir team sounded a word of caution to the villagers against dumping waste into the well. The task was completed in three days, with nearly 3,000 liters of dirty water being drained out of the well and diverted to an irrigation canal.

Subsequently, Mrs.Lucy and Preethi from Payir team held a meeting and commended the villagers for their successful efforts in desilting the well. However, there was more work to be done. The well still had to be restored.  The Payir team, along with a few villagers went to the Block Development Office and voiced their complaints and concerns to the officials. In two days, all the debris from the desilting was cleared. Funds to begin work on restoring the well arrived a month later, as well as the work order.

Payir and the villagers’ co-operation was largely instrumental in connecting with the Panchayat authorities and restoring the well. Desilting of the well turned out to be a boon for the drought-ridden village of Pudhu Ammapalayam, with water no longer being in short supply for their daily needs.